Trucks for transporting cargo are well known and are widely used in business and for recreation. Some truck owners customize the pick-up truck box to provide convenient interface points for tie downs that are used to secure tools, motorcycles, recreation vehicles, containers, or other cargo. Unfortunately, the interface points often require straps that must be stored in the back of the truck or other location. If and when the straps are lost, the tools and/or containers can no longer be secured to the truck bed.
Other pick-up truck owners may drill holes in the pick-up truck box or use existing holes or other structural features such as edge flanges or the top end of the bed wall to provide interface points for accessories. Drilling holes in a pick-up truck box increases the extent of corrosion, disrupts the integrity and reduces the strength of the structure. Using existing structural features to secure objects to a pick-up truck box may not meet all of a use's needs and requirements.
The use of aluminum to fabricate the sidewalk and floor of a pick-up truck has been proposed to achieve substantial weight savings. In prior art steel bed pick-up trucks it is common for users to drill holes in the sidewalls or bed to establish customized tethering locations. Drilling holes and securing heavy objects to anchors or fasteners to a truck bed having aluminum sidewalk and an aluminum bed may not be effective due to the lower strength of aluminum. Moreover, having the holes in the aluminum may allow the accumulation of water, thereby facilitating rust on steel parts that are adjacent to the aluminum.
This disclosure is directed to addressing the above problems and other problems as summarized below.